Things I learned at UGCX
February 11th, 2009
Published in
Photography
4 Comments
Tags: Jack Hollingsworth, LookStat, microstock, stock-photography, UGCX
I had a good time at the UGCX conference in San Jose, in spite of a few minor obstacles (like airplanes breaking and my wife getting food poisoning). Simply meeting other people in the industry, hearing their thoughts and ideas, was not only inspiring for me personally, but also opened my eyes to a few things. These are some of them.
The line between micro and macro is getting blurrier. More and more traditional (macro) stock photographers are moving into the micro arena, while at the same time, macro-agencies are recruiting more microstock photographers to join their ranks. It seems obvious to me, that the entire stock industry is still very much in the middle of reinventing itself. More changes will come in the next couple of years for sure.
Listen to Jack Hollingsworth, even if you don’t agree with everything he says or does. Jack is not only a giant in the stock business with three decades of experience, but he’s also got some pretty interesting theories and ideas about the future of stock photography.
Sign up for LookStat, if you submit to more than one microstock agency. It’s a service that lets you compare sales stats from several sites, so you can see how you’re doing where. It’s easy to lose track, when you’ve got stuff all over the web, so this can really help grow your business. As an exclusive to iStockphoto, the very existence of LookStat somehow eluded me until now. I’m happy to say, that is no longer the case.
On the other hand, I noticed a few photographers who seemed too caught up in trying to figure out what sells. I really believe that if you want to succeed in the long term, you have to shoot what you love. By all means, conceptualize it, crop it, light it and process it to sell, but if your passion lies with creating studio still life images, don’t try to outdo the bigshots in the business lifestyle genre. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try it out, but you’ll find the road hard and long when competing against masters. Be a master of what you love instead, and lead rather than follow.
Attending UGCX gave me several ideas for additions to version 2 of the Microstock Photographer’s Guide. The first edition is very much aimed at beginners, and I want to expand that to include more advanced topics such as keeping track of sales, expenses and treating microstock as a business. One important topic is outside help (from on-set assistants to outsourcing), which will definitely be expanded upon.
Speaking of the guide, I am still looking for your input, comments and suggestions. Send me an @theprint message on Twitter or drop a comment here. I will be sharing some of the best suggestions in a later post.
February 12th, 2009at 11:00 am(#)
Hi Rasmus,
Thanks a ton for the shout out. If I can answer any questions for you or your readers it would be my pleasure. Also, while we do believe that better information will help, your point about passion versus greed is a crucial one.
Cheers,
Rahul
February 13th, 2009at 1:40 pm(#)
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